| Chief Justice of Canada | |
|---|---|
| Juge en Chef du Canada | |
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| Supreme Court of Canada Canadian judicial system (King-on-the-Bench) | |
| Style | The Right Honourable Madam/Mister Chief Justice |
| Status | Chief justice, head of acourt system Deputy Governor General 4th inCanadian order of precedence |
| Member of | Supreme Court Canadian Judicial Council (Ex-officio chairman) Order of Canada advisory council (chairman) |
| Seat | Supreme Court Building,Ottawa,Ontario |
| Nominator | Cabinet |
| Appointer | The governor general; on theadvice of theprime minister |
| Term length | None; mandatory retirement at age 75 |
| Constituting instrument | Supreme Court Act |
| Inaugural holder | Sir William Buell Richards |
| Formation | September 30, 1875 (150 years ago) (1875-09-30) |
| Succession | May assume viceregal role asAdministrator of Canada |
| Salary | $510,100 (as of April 2024)[1] |
| Website | scc-csc |
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Thechief justice of Canada (French:juge en chef du Canada) is the presiding judge of the nine-memberSupreme Court of Canada, the highestjudicial body inCanada. As such, the chief justice is the highest-ranking judge of theCanadian court system. TheSupreme Court Act makes the chief justice, aCrown in Council appointment, meaning the Crown acting on the advice of theprime minister andminister of justice. The chief justice serves until they resign, turn 75 years old, die, or are removed from office for cause. By tradition, a new chief justice is chosen from among the court'sincumbentpuisne justices.
The chief justice has significant influence in theprocedural rules of the Court, presides whenoral arguments are held, and leads the discussion of cases among the justices. The chief justice is alsodeputy governor general,ex-officio chairman of theCanadian Judicial Council, and heads the committee that selects recipients of theOrder of Canada. Additionally, a chief justice also assumes the role ofAdministrator of Canada and exercises the viceregal duties of the governor general upon the death, resignation or incapacitation of the governor general.
Richard Wagner has served as the current chief justice of Canada since 2017. Since the Supreme Court was established in 1875, 18 people have served as chief justice. The court's first chief justice wasWilliam Buell Richards;Beverley McLachlin is the longest serving Canadian chief justice (17 years, 341 days), and was the first woman to hold the position.
On October 8, 1875, GeneralWilliam O'Grady Haly administered theoath of office to Chief JusticeWilliam Buell Richards. A month later on November 8, the five puisne justices took their oath of office.[2] In January 1879, Chief Justice William Buell Richards resigned following pressure from his longtime friend, Prime MinisterJohn A. Macdonald,[3] likely due to Richards' deteriorating health.[4] On January 11, 1879,William Johnstone Ritchie was appointed Chief Justice by Macdonald.
On September 25, 1892, Chief JusticeWilliam Johnstone Ritchie died after a relapse of bronchitis at the age of 78.[5] Early rumors indicated that Prime MinisterJohn Abbott may appoint Justice MinisterJohn Sparrow David Thompson.[5] The opinion that the Chief Justice should not default to the longest serving member of the Court was prevalent and prominent Conservative SenatorJames Robert Gowan who was a chief party advisor on legal matters opposed this strongly.[6] Senator Gowan wrote Justice Minister Thompson suggesting Justice Strong be allowed to retire and the appointment be delayed, and indicated he had little faith in Strong's work ethic.[6] However, three weeks after becoming Prime Minister, Thompson appointed Strong as the Court's third Chief Justice.[6]
In April 1896,Parliament under the Conservative government of Prime MinisterMackenzie Bowell amended theSupreme and Exchequer Courts Act to create the title of "Chief Justice of Canada".[7][ps 1] Prior to the amendment, the title was just "chief justice".[7][ps 2]
The chief justice is appointed by the Governor in Council under theSupreme Court Act on the advice of the prime minister.[8] The appointment is subject to theSupreme Court Act, which governs the administration and appointment of judges of the court. By this component of theConstitution of Canada, Judges appointed to the court must be "a judge of a superior court of a province or a barrister or advocate of at least ten years standing at the bar of a province."
Tradition dictates that the chief justice be appointed from among the court's puisne judges; in thehistory of the Court, only two were not: William Buell Richards, andCharles Fitzpatrick.[9] It is also customary that a new chief justice be chosen alternately from among: the three justices who by law must be fromQuebec (with itscivil law system), and the other six justices from the rest of Canada (representing thecommon law tradition). Since 1933, this tradition has only been broken once, whenBrian Dickson ofManitoba was named to succeedBora Laskin ofOntario in 1984.
The chief justice's central duty is to preside at hearings before the Supreme Court.[10] The chief justice presides from the centre chair. If the chief justice is absent, the senior puisne judge presides.[10]
The chief justice chairs theCanadian Judicial Council, which is composed of all chief justices and associate chief justices of superior courts in Canada. This body, established in 1971 by theJudges Act, organizes seminars for federally appointed judges, coordinates the discussion of issues of concern to the judiciary, and conducts inquiries, either on public complaint or at the request of a federal or provincial minister of justice or attorney general, into the conduct of any federally appointed judge.
The chief justice is sworn as a member of thePrivy Council prior to taking the judicialoath of office.[11] The chief justice also sits on the advisory council of Canada's highest civilian order, theOrder of Canada. In practice however, the chief justice abstains from voting on a candidate'sremoval from the order, presumably because this process has so far only applied to individuals convicted in a lower court of a criminal offence, and could create a conflict of interest for the chief justice if that individual appealed their conviction to the Supreme Court.
Under theElectoral Boundaries Readjustment Act, each province has a three-person commission responsible for modifying that province's federalridings. The chair of each such commission is appointed by the chief justice of that province; if no appointment is made by the provincial chief justice, the responsibility falls to the chief justice of Canada.[ps 3]
TheConstitution Act, 1867 provides that there can be an "Administrator for the Time being carrying on the Government of Canada."[ps 4] TheLetters Patent, 1947 respecting the Office ofGovernor General provide that, should the governor general die, become incapacitated, or be absent from the country for a period of more than one month, the chief justice or, if that office is vacant, the senior puisne justice, of the Supreme Court would becomeAdministrator of Canada and exercise all the powers and duties of the governor general.[ps 5] This has happened on four occasions: chief justicesLyman Duff andRobert Taschereau each did so, in 1940 and 1967 respectively, following the death of theincumbent governor general, as did Chief JusticeBeverley McLachlin when the Governor General underwent surgery in 2005. With the resignation ofJulie Payette in January 2021, Richard Wagner served as Administrator until the appointment ofMary Simon as Governor General in July of the same year.[12][13]
The chief justice and the other justices of the court serve asdeputies of the governor general for the purpose of givingRoyal Assent to bills passed byParliament, signing official documents or receiving credentials of newly appointedhigh commissioners andambassadors.
The current chief justice isRichard Wagner, who took office on December 18, 2017, succeedingBeverley McLachlin. Born inMontreal on April 2, 1957, Wagner had been a puisne Supreme Court justice for5 years, 74 days at the time of his elevation to chief justice. He previously sat on theQuebec Court of Appeal.
Since the Supreme Court was established in 1875, the following 18 persons have served as Chief Justice:[14]
| Image | Name (Province) | Order and term[A] | Length of term | Appointed on advice of | Date of birth | Date of death | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | William Buell Richards (Ontario) | 1st | September 30, 1875 – January 10, 1879 | 3 years, 102 days | Mackenzie | May 2, 1815 | January 26, 1889 |
 | William Johnstone Ritchie (New Brunswick) | 2nd | January 11, 1879 – September 25, 1892 | 13 years, 258 days | Macdonald | October 28, 1813 | September 25, 1892[B] |
 | Samuel Henry Strong (Ontario) | 3rd | December 13, 1892 – November 17, 1902 | 9 years, 339 days | Thompson | August 13, 1825 | August 31, 1909 |
 | Henri Elzéar Taschereau (Quebec) | 4th | November 21, 1902 – May 1, 1906 | 3 years, 161 days | Laurier | October 7, 1836 | April 14, 1911 |
 | Charles Fitzpatrick[C] (Quebec) | 5th | June 4, 1906 – October 20, 1918 | 12 years, 138 days | Laurier | December 19, 1851 | June 17, 1942 |
 | Louis Henry Davies (Prince Edward Island) | 6th | October 23, 1918 – May 1, 1924 | 5 years, 191 days | Borden | May 4, 1845 | May 1, 1924[B] |
 | Francis Alexander Anglin (Ontario) | 7th | September 16, 1924 – February 27, 1933 | 8 years, 164 days | King | April 2, 1865 | March 2, 1933 |
 | Lyman Duff (British Columbia) | 8th | March 17, 1933 – January 6, 1944[D] | 10 years, 295 days | Bennett | January 7, 1865 | April 26, 1955 |
 | Thibaudeau Rinfret (Quebec) | 9th | January 8, 1944 – June 21, 1954 | 10 years, 164 days | King | June 22, 1879 | July 25, 1962 |
.jpg) | Patrick Kerwin (Ontario) | 10th | July 1, 1954 – February 2, 1963 | 8 years, 216 days | St. Laurent | October 25, 1889 | February 2, 1963[B] |
 | Robert Taschereau (Quebec) | 11th | April 22, 1963 – August 31, 1967[E] | 4 years, 131 days | Pearson | September 10, 1896 | July 26, 1970 |
.jpg) | John Robert Cartwright (Ontario) | 12th | September 1, 1967 – March 22, 1970 | 2 years, 202 days | Pearson | March 23, 1895 | November 24, 1979 |
 | Gérald Fauteux (Quebec) | 13th | March 23, 1970 – December 22, 1973 | 3 years, 274 days | P. Trudeau | October 22, 1900 | September 14, 1980 |
| Bora Laskin (Ontario) | 14th | December 27, 1973 – March 26, 1984 | 10 years, 90 days | P. Trudeau | October 5, 1912 | March 26, 1984[B] | |
| Brian Dickson (Manitoba) | 15th | April 18, 1984 – June 29, 1990 | 6 years, 72 days | P. Trudeau | May 25, 1916 | October 17, 1998 | |
| Antonio Lamer (Quebec) | 16th | July 1, 1990 – January 6, 2000 | 9 years, 189 days | Mulroney | July 8, 1933 | November 24, 2007 | |
 | Beverley McLachlin (British Columbia) | 17th | January 7, 2000 – December 14, 2017[F] | 17 years, 341 days | Chrétien | September 7, 1943 | 2025-10-26(living) |
| Richard Wagner (Quebec) | 18th | December 18, 2017 – Incumbent[G] | 7 years, 312 days[H] | J. Trudeau | April 2, 1957 | 2025-10-26(living) |
Thisgraphical timeline depicts the length of each justice's tenure as chief justice:[14]
| Order of precedence | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded byasPrime Minister of Canada | Chief Justice of Canada Canadian order of precedence (ceremonial) | Succeeded by Former Governors General of Canada in order of their departure from office |
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